Woman Tells Of Killing Her Husband In 1967

July 11, 1985|By Compiled From Sentinel Services

MIAMI — A woman apparently worn down by 18 years of anxiety over the murder and butchering of her husband has confessed to the killing, police said Wednesday. Betty Evers, 55, is being held in the Dade County Jail on a charge of first- degree murder. Authorities said she returned to Miami after first trying to surrender to police in California.

Police said Evers told them she accidentally shot her husband eight times, butchered his body in her garage and dumped it into Biscayne Bay in June 1967. The crime had been dubbed the torso murder.

Two fishermen found the torso of Henry Evers on June 3, 1967. Other parts of Evers' body later surfaced .

For weeks, police did not know the identity of the victim. Gov. Claude Kirk sent 24 special agents to South Florida because he believed the crime might have been a gangland execution.

On July 24, 1967, Betty Evers and her oldest daughter, Jennifer, 15, identified the body as her estranged husband and blamed the murder on David Katz, 21, a drama student at the University of Miami. Mrs. Evers said Katz was her lover.

Mrs. Evers disappeared from Miami in 1970 and moved to San Diego. The murder went unsolved.

Two weeks ago, she walked into a police department branch in Hollywood, Calif.

''She asked to speak to a homicide detective regarding a murder,'' said Detective Kuster. ''She said it was hanging over her head. We didn't know what to believe. We didn't know if she was blowing smoke or not.''

Police questioned her briefly, then told her to go home. They telephoned Metro-Dade police.

''She said she had the rifle, and that she tripped and it accidentally went off. The common thread was guilt. It eats at you like cancer. She was cooperative. She appears to be remorseful,'' Radcliff said.

''I believe she truly wanted to get the story out. We have reason to believe it was not an accident.''

Her California confessions were not enough to charge her with murder and Radcliff returned to Miami.

Prosecutor Mike Cornely said the grand jury will decide what to do with the case within three weeks.